Diplomat to fly out as India revs up criticism over students
INDIA'S high commissioner, Sujatha Singh, will return to Delhi for talks next week amid rising diplomatic tension over attacks on Indian students in Australia.
Mrs Singh made a stinging complaint to the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, over the attacks in Melbourne, labelling Victoria a state ''in denial'' over the severity of the problem.
Mrs Singh sought the meeting with Ms Bryce in Sydney last Friday as India's frustration with Australian authorities intensifies.
Mrs Singh is believed to have told Ms Bryce Australia was not racist but warned of long-term consequences unless more action was taken to prevent attacks.
She praised police action in NSW, Queensland and South Australia but said Victoria was taking too long to respond.
Word of the envoy's return came after India's External Affairs Minister, S. M. Krishna, issued a strong statement on the attacks, demanding they be "stopped forthwith".
Mrs Singh will travel to Delhi to explain her perspective on the violence, which threatens to seriously damage relations between the nations.
Some Indian media outlets are reporting she has been "recalled" because of the controversy surrounding the attacks. But a government source said the meetings were not out of the ordinary and Mrs Singh was not being "summoned back". "She is scheduled to come back on routine consultation duties scheduled from 10 to 16 February to apprise the government and minister of her on-the-ground assessment
and also to apprise the government here of steps taken by the Australian authorities."
A few hours before it emerged Mrs Singh would return to Delhi, Mr Krishna took the unusual step of comparing the treatment of Indian students in Australia to those in the US.
"There are about 100,000 Indian students
[but] we don't have such complaints from the United States," he said. "Why is it only in Australia that there is attacks?''
On Monday, India's main opposition party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, met Mr Krishna to demand a tougher stance towards Australia. ''We told him that steps taken by the government so far have proved to be ineffective," said a BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj.
The Victorian Premier, John Brumby, yesterday attacked sections of the Indian media and government over their portrayal of attacks on Indians.
Mr Brumby's comments came after police alleged an Indian man who had said he was set on fire in an unprovoked attack had burned himself while setting alight his car for a false insurance claim.
